Ch.3737. El-Rena Using the Sky Lens

Choi Minseo couldn’t focus as she stared at the pink powder.

She shook the cherry-colored cloud back and forth, her gaze fixed on it, unable to look away.

“Our Minseo, do you want this?”

“Yes, hehe…”

Nodding her head while sticking her bottom out, she looked no different from a puppy eyeing food.

I took out a lighter and heated the bottom of the thin metal plate where the powder sat.

As the aroma slowly rose, I brought it to Choi Minseo’s nose, and she stuck out her tongue with an ecstatic smile.

“Minseo, do you want to dream?”

“Uh-huh. I want to, I want to.”

“Will you listen to oppa well?”

“I’ll listen well…”

“Then you should ask politely. If you don’t listen, I won’t give it to you.”

At the threat of not getting any, Minseo pouted and twisted her shoulders nervously before looking up at me and whispering pleadingly.

“I’ll… I’ll listen well… Ui-seok oppa, I want to dream. It was hard without you… Huh…? No, you’re here. Yes. Pl-please give it to me. Quickly, quickly.”

I took out a straw and shoved it into Choi Minseo’s nose. Her body twitched.

“Ungh. Sniff. Sniiiff.”

She greedily inhaled the pink powder. In an instant, it was absorbed into her body through her respiratory system. The powder turned into molecules and infiltrated her synapses.

“…Haah. Uweee—”

Choi Minseo’s body went limp as her muscles relaxed. As her entire body was about to collapse, I yanked her leash hard to keep her upright.

Choi Minseo trembled, her toes barely touching the ground.

“Haaa— Ui-seok— oppa— Somi— unni—”

Her focus was already directed at empty space. She’s seeing hallucinations.

“Choi Minseo.”

I called her name in a low voice.

“Yes— oppa—”

“Remember.”

“Remember—”

“To commands.”

“Obedience.”

“To commands.”

“Obedience.”

“To commands.”

“Obedience.”

“To commands?”

“Obe— dience—”

“If you don’t obey?”

Whack!

I struck her abdomen with my knee.

“Ugh— uh—”

“If you don’t obey, you’re trash. No talent, unrecognized, a loser. A failure at the Hero Academy.”

“Aah, ah? Ah—”

Choi Minseo’s eyes began to pour tears as if they were broken.

“Ah— no, no, nooo, no I’m, sorry— sorry—I’m sor—aah, aaaah—”

After scraping her vocal cords, suddenly, a carefree smile appeared on her face.

“Ui-seok— oppa— yes— I— did well—”

“To commands?”

“Obe— dience—”

I worked on Choi Minseo a bit more after that.

What a sight she was, completely losing herself in a drug-induced state.

After finishing the job, I threw Choi Minseo into a cage.

“Is it okay to leave her like that?”

“Of course not. I’ll have my subordinates watch her and finish dealing with her when she wakes up. It’s a waste to spend all day on this. Lu-a, let’s go back to the hideout.”

“Okay.”

◈ ◈ ◈

Choi Minseo woke up with a headache.

How much time had passed? She wasn’t particularly curious. Only good feelings remained.

“Minseo, did you sleep well?”

A gentle voice called out. There was Jung Ui-seok, offering her a warm cup of coffee. Choi Minseo took a sip and was overwhelmed with emotion.

“You remember how I like my coffee.”

“Of course. It’s our Minseo’s coffee, naturally. Did you enjoy last night?”

“Last night…”

Choi Minseo tried to recall. Handcuffs on her wrists and a dog collar around her neck. She also remembered being handled roughly.

Choi Minseo blushed. What embarrassed her more was that those rough touches had been quite exciting and pleasurable.

Her lower abdomen tingled. Unconsciously, she rubbed below her navel. A throbbing pain remained there.

“Now go back to the association. Everyone will be worried.”

“Ah, yes. Oppa… when can I see you again?”

“Not too often, so in a few days? I’m a bit busy these days.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Don’t forget to bring what I lost next time we meet.”

“Ah, I understand.”

“Don’t bring it in parts, bring everything.”

“Everything? That might be a bit difficult… there’s so much…”

“Minseo.”

Jung Ui-seok murmured in a low voice.

“To commands.”

Choi Minseo answered as if entranced.

“Obedience.”

Jung Ui-seok showed a gentle smile.

“I-I’ll try my best…”

Choi Minseo slowly left.

◈ ◈ ◈

“Chairwoman, all processes of the project have been completed as scheduled.”

“Prepare.”

“Yes.”

After receiving the report, Yoo Cha-mi boarded the hidden elevator in the chairman’s office. It led directly underground. She activated the perception-inhibiting equipment.

When the doors opened, organization members were lined up on both sides. In the center was a luxury sedan waiting for her.

Once E.lena (Yoo Cha-mi’s alter ego) boarded, the sedan began to move. Several vehicles escorted her flawlessly. They moved through underground passages and emerged onto the road.

Living a double life as the chairwoman of L Corporation and the boss of Holy Tree.

E.lena had been leading Holy Tree even before becoming chairwoman. So she was accustomed to this lifestyle.

The destination was south. The Skylens Project was being conducted at a converted military missile launch facility.

As soon as she took the chairman position, she had invested enormous capital into this research, which had finally borne fruit according to reports.

‘A joyous day, and yet.’

E.lena gazed out the window with slightly furrowed brows.

If everything had gone according to the original schedule, there would be no cause for concern.

But.

‘The Skylens Project will fail.’

Now, that man’s words bothered her immensely.

Upon arriving at the site, E.lena headed straight to the control room. She looked through the reinforced glass.

An imposing missile launch pad reaching 80 meters in height. The cylindrical space contained thirteen layers of enormous lenses.

Below, using space very inefficiently, was something like an operating table just large enough for one person to lie on.

“Preparations are perfect. There were zero errors in 1,200 simulations. ‘Evolve the ability-awakening mechanism to enhance abilities beyond growth limits.’ The Skylens works ideally.”

The project manager reported to E.lena. She agreed with his assessment. She had personally reviewed each formula and piece of equipment.

“As you know, operating the Skylens costs 1.12 trillion won at once. Preparations also take six months. I understood that you originally planned to use it yourself, but…”

The manager trailed off.

E.lena knew why.

She had recently ordered them to prepare a “test ability user.”

The Skylens was naturally meant for her own use.

The cost of reactivation wasn’t an issue.

But this was a project four years in preparation.

To wait another six months?

E.lena didn’t have that kind of patience.

‘…Gerogius.’

If it weren’t for that man, there would be no reason to hesitate.

“Boss, what should we do?”

“The tester?”

“Prepare her.”

At the manager’s signal, a woman in a gown appeared on the ground. She was similar to E.lena in both age and build.

She listened to the researchers’ instructions and then muttered toward a prepared humanoid drone.

“Burn!”

A small fire ignited on the drone’s shoulder.

“She’s a verbal command ability user like you, Boss. A low-ranking member of Holy Tree. As you can see, her ability is weak and she only has one command, making her a D-rank villain, but we believe meaningful data can be measured.”

As the researcher explained, the female tester looked around and spotted E.lena in the control room. She bowed politely and expressed her determination.

“I’ll do my best! Thank you for this opportunity!”

E.lena hesitated until the last moment.

Thinking of Gerogius’s face made her irritation rise again.

Snap!

Closing her fan, she made up her mind.

“Leave it to that child.”

“Understood.”

The chief manager signaled. The researchers moved.

The female tester climbed onto the operating table. Her body was strapped down with belts, and she received various injections. She looked a bit tense.

Boom, boom.

The angles of the lenses adjusted.

It was midnight now. No sunlight was coming in.

“Activate it.”

The power turned on. Starlight gathered. A very thin, subtle beam of light shone down on the tester’s forehead.

1.7 seconds.

The process ended in just that much time.

Then—

Flash, boom!

Light burst from the tester’s body.

E.lena slightly furrowed her brows.

Mysterious beams of light enveloped the tester’s body. Her expression had lightened considerably. The tester stood up. Researchers checked her physical condition and brought her back in front of the drone.

The tester used her ability.

“Burn!”

At that moment.

KABOOM!!

Elements in the air split and exploded like projectiles, slicing through the drone.

It wasn’t just burning. Her command had clearly evolved to a different dimension.

“A success, it seems.”

The manager nodded. The tester also looked at the light enveloping her hand as if she couldn’t believe it.

‘…Tsk.’

E.lena clicked her tongue.

She should have used the Skylens herself after all. Gerogius had gotten the better of her. If a D-rank villain could achieve this level of enhancement, how much would her own SSS-rank ability have been strengthened?

There was no point in imagining it now. It had become useless.

Gerogius’s goal must have been to delay her by six months to buy time.

E.lena made a quick judgment. She needed to declare war on Vengeance immediately and annihilate them. From his second-place ranking in Nameless, Gerogius was an enemy that couldn’t be ignored.

Just as she made that judgment.

“Aaah— aaaaaaah?!”

A blood-curdling scream pierced the ears of everyone present.

“It hurts, it hurts, it huuuuurts!!!”

The female tester. Only the left side of her body was melting from the center. It turned green. Holes formed, smoke rose, and it twisted grotesquely.

“No! No! No—”

As if the pain had reached its limit, the tester couldn’t even scream anymore and collapsed.

Researchers approached to try to calm her, but she went berserk and began exploding everything around her.

Several researchers’ bodies burst apart. Concrete collapsed and vibrations shook the facility.

Unable to stand it any longer, E.lena opened her mouth.

“‘Rotate.'”

She uttered just one word.

The tester’s neck turned three full rotations with a sickening sound.

The light that had enveloped her disappeared, and her lifeless body fell to the floor with a thud.

“Wh-what in the world…”

The manager and researchers were speechless.

E.lena gritted her teeth as she looked at the tester’s corpse.

Her hideously damaged half-body.

Imagining that it could have been her own body melting like that if she had made the wrong choice.